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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28789344">it’s tough to hear everything all at once.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellerylavender/pseuds/ellerylavender'>ellerylavender</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Welcome to Night Vale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anxiety Attacks, Autistic Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale), CWs in notes, Carlos is Neurodivergent (Welcome to Night Vale), Hurt/Comfort, Post-Episode: e110 Matryoshka, Sensory Overload, Steve Carlsberg has ADHD, Steve Carlsberg is Autistic, Steve Carlsberg is Not a Jerk, Steve Carlsberg is Trans, and I relate to him asf, because i do too, i think, like a lot after, you can’t change my mind</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:13:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,091</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28789344</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ellerylavender/pseuds/ellerylavender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>basically Steve has a sensory overload in the Nightvale mall and Carlos helps him out.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>it’s tough to hear everything all at once.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>CW FOR MENTIONED ABLEISM IN THIS FIC!!</p><p>——————</p><p>hiii here’s a neat fic!! it’s mostly a comfort thing, i see steve and carlos as autistic, and I get sensory overloads a lot.<br/>another thing to mention is that steve is trans/nonbinary and uses he/they in this fic! it’s a comfort headcanon for me, since i use they(/it)/he pronouns and identify as nonbinary/transmasc/etc lol. anyway please enjoy!!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everything started off... relatively normal. Well, normal enough.</p><p>. . .</p><p>Abby and Cecil had organized a little outing for just the two of them, so Steve and Carlos organized something for themselves. They didn’t hang out often, but they had fun when they did.</p><p>. . .</p><p>Steve arrived at the North Entrance of the Nightvale Mall, where Carlos was, and greeted him with a hug as he usually did.</p><p>The two said their hellos and exchanged “how are you?”s before heading off.</p><p>Steve noticed a janitor mopping something in a nearby corner and made an offhand comment about how they hated the noise. Carlos laughed and agreed, and everything seemed fine. *Seemed* fine.</p><p>. . .</p><p>As the outing went on, Carlos started to notice the changes in Steve’s behaviour. </p><p>He seemed more distant, and after a while, they didn’t talk at all, or at least much less than they usually would. Upon asking if he was okay, Carlos was met with a thumbs up and a weak, painstakingly unconvincing smile. </p><p>At first, Carlos assumed they had been triggered by something. That didn’t make complete sense though, as he (as well as Abby and Cecil) tried his absolute best to make sure Steve wasn’t reminded of his ‘re-education’ from high school (they had briefly mentioned it once in front of Abby and Carlos, sparking a lot of worry from both of them, which Steve honestly found inconvenient)</p><p>‘So.. what is it, then?’ Carlos thought.</p><p>. . .</p><p>It clicked for him while the two were in a clothing store neither remember the name of. However, Carlos distinctly remembered the scent of lavender masked by the strong smell of dust and industrial paint.</p><p>Carlos took a collared shirt off where it was hung, closely examining it. “How about it, Steve?” He asked, “Should I get this for..?” (The end of his sentence was meant to be ‘Cecil’)</p><p>Steve was looking at the floor. Well, mostly at the floor. His eyes darted around the room whenever a sound was heard. On occasion, they’d hear a noise that seemed just a little too loud, and they’d lightly flinch. Tightly shutting their eyes, tensing his shoulders. Just for a second.</p><p>Sensory overload. It was unmistakable.</p><p>Carlos quickly typed something into his phone and showed it to Steve, who looked, albeit reluctantly.</p><p>[Do you want to go to a quieter space?]</p><p>Steve opened his mouth to speak, but instead just nodded and followed Carlos as he walked. He offered them a pair of bright orange earbuds, which he took.</p><p>. . .</p><p>Carlos was sat, cross legged, on the side of a public bathroom sink. His brother-in-law splashed some cold water on their face, eventually taking out the earplugs and sighing in deep relief.</p><p>“Feeling better now?” Carlos asked.</p><p>“Yeah,” Steve grinned, “a lot better. Thanks.”</p><p>“Not a problem! I try to offer help in any way I can.”</p><p>The two were left in a few seconds of silence after that.</p><p>“So-“ Carlos finally spoke up “-uh, do you think you can explain what happened back there? I mean, I think I have a pretty good idea of what happened, but just to make sure..”</p><p>Steve chuckled to himself, but there was little humour in it. “I mean, it’s pretty complicated. Well, I guess it is. I just feel like you wouldn’t get it.”</p><p>“Steve, I’m a scientist. Try me.”</p><p>They hesitated.</p><p>“... Well, I-I’m sensitive to certain sounds, I guess.” He began, “it’s not for any reason, I just... can’t really take it properly. And sometimes, after I hear one of those sounds, it’ll start to feel like... okay, this is gonna sound kind of silly, but.. the best way I can explain it is that it feels like sound is attacking me.”</p><p>Carlos nodded, “Thought so,” he said, “sensory overload, right?”</p><p>Steve’s eyes seemed to light up at Carlos’ understanding. </p><p>“Exactly!!” They smiled. “Do you get them too?”</p><p>“Yes!! Do you get them a lot?</p><p>“Of course, I get them so often sometimes, it’s exhausting. You get it, though! It’s so great to realize that!”</p><p>Carlos half-smiled, though a little out of pity, and then turned his gaze to the wall in front of him. </p><p>“Sorry if I’m being intrusive, but why haven’t you ever talked about this? You know the people you love would be understanding, right?”</p><p>Steve shrugged, “I guess I just thought it was shameful or something. I was told I was disruptive for it,” he said. “Teachers at my elementary school would tell me something random about how my ways of expressing anxiety were disrespectful to ‘the students who actually wanted to learn’. But I technically did actually want to learn. I never understood why they said that to me.” Their tone turned more bitter near the end of his sentence.</p><p>“As I got older, teachers got more... aggressive about this whole thing, and I tried to stop my knee from bouncing or my finger from tapping on the desk, but I’d just end up feeling worse. This... tension built up inside me until repressing it wasn’t an option. Then I’d obviously get sent out of class.</p><p>“My classmates would get in on this, too. They’d mimic my tics just to see me get upset. I couldn’t do anything about it, though. About anything. My dad took me to a psychologist after I had this ‘outburst’ one day in high school. I was 17. I got sent home early for something I don’t really remember. I got suspended for a few days, I found out later.</p><p>“When that psychologist told me I had ADHD and Autism, I.. well, it explained a lot, but... I still.. couldn’t talk about it. I just thought it would all get worse for me, I guess. So I kept quiet. It never really came up after that, so I never had any reason to bring it up.”</p><p>Carlos looked at Steve for a while, hesitating for a second. “Well, you know I’m autistic, too, right?”</p><p>They nodded.</p><p>“I get it. Everything you went through is, sadly, a universal experience for neurodivergent people. Hell, I went through that, too! It’s not shameful or disrespectful to be who you are, and people who think that are... well, they don’t belong in Nightvale, that’s for sure.”</p><p>Steve smiled softly. “Thank you. That.. that helps a lot.”</p><p>“Not a problem. Plus, Cecil and Abby would probably kill anyone who bullied you back then. I’d probably help, too, though. We’ve got your back.”</p><p>Steve chuckled, this time genuinely.</p><p>. . .</p><p>After that, the two chatted for a while and the outing went on as normal.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>HIIII THANK U FOR READING!!! i made this at 2:30 am while i was supposed to be sleeping sooooo that’s why there might be some typos or mistakes! anyway thank u again for reading!! comments and kudos are appreciated!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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